Engineering challenges

The Flats East Mixed-Use Development Project is located on the waterfront, directly in the heart of the East Bank. The addition of this multi-use building to the city of Cleveland will act as a platform for new development of restaurants, hotels, retail, sporting events, recreational activities, and nightlife. Based on the project’s location, this destination will merge many forms of entertainment and provide an attraction for local and out-of-town guests.

This $145,000,000+ project consists of approximately 820,000 sq ft of mixed-use space, including three stories of parking podium (approximately 225,000 sq ft) supporting a 19-story high-rise office tower (approximately 450,000 sq ft) and eight stories of high-rise hotel (150 rooms), restaurants, and fitness (approximately 120,000 sq ft). Three major tenants for this project include the Aloft Hotel, Ernst & Young, and Tucker Ellis. This is a registered U.S. Green Building Council LEED V3 project, targeting LEED Silver certification, and reinforces the Thorson Baker and Associates Inc. (TBA) experience in sustainable design.

Seventeen additional TBA projects have received LEED certification and 40 additional projects are registered and on track to receive certification. The design process started with TBA working for the architect, directly for the owner in a design-assist process along with the construction team, including the MEP prime subcontractors. Initial indications were that the project was $30 million over the project budget, so the design team had to come up with an effective solution to meet the needs and goals for the project.

Solutions

A few months into the design process, the delivery method changed to a GMP (guaranteed maximum price) process, where the MEP contractors were bid and locked into a GMP based on 50% complete construction documents. The $30M budget gap was closed and allowed the project to successfully move forward. Once the construction team was finalized, TBA was contracted through the architect to work as a team for the construction manager to complete the construction documents and follow through with construction administration. TBA has been able to successfully manage the expectations of both clients throughout the process while maintaining the integrity of the design with no increase in construction cost.